Meghan McDermott

| Local

As public schools open their doors and begin the drill and kill test-prep instruction required to satiate the states voracious appetite for measurable outcomes, the New York City school system as a whole continues to hobble on to the next precipice of educational improvement.

| Local

| Local

Late 19th-century New York City wasnt a good time or place to be an animal. Socialite fashions included whole stuffed creatures such as sparrows, otters, and foxes. One matron made headlines by attending a Vanderbilt dress ball in a stitched-up display of the heads and tails of white catsdozens of them.

| Local

Late last fall, the New Skool Journalistas left our beat in Brooklyn to trammel through Queens to investigate and taste the nuances of home and assimilation in the cuisine of two of the boroughs vibrant immigrant communities.

| Books

Flipping though the bold and beautiful portraits in photographer Ali Smiths second book, Laws of the Bandit Queens, one is stuck by the simple fact that this is a rare and thoughtful collection of women. Featuring witty, playful and provocative images of artists, writers, thinkers, activists, provocateurs, athletes, comedians and politicos of all kinds, Ali Smith complements her photographs with each womans stated law to live by.

| Local

In collaboration with Youth Speaks, a writing program that offers free after school poetry workshops for NYC teens, the Brooklyn Rail is proud to bring you the words and visions of the citys up and coming writers.

| Local

The 2004 session of the New Skool Journalism Workshop went to Crown Heights, where our team of young journalists worked to capture scenes of daily life that exist beneath the various stereotypes by which the place is known.

| Local

For some, there may not be much beauty in post-industrial North Brooklyn. But above the rumbling trucks, the rising rents, the tragic hipsters, and the fashions gone awry, there is something truly captivating.

| Express

Even after the mermaids parade past the waves off Coney Island, the diversity and richness of Brooklyn will still provide countless summer adventures for city-bound kids and families. Perfumed flowers are in bloom at the botanic garden, cool music wafts across Prospect and Fort Greene Parks, and Carnival is just around the corner.